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Tuesday, May 31, 2016

“We Became War Photographers Without Ever Having Gone To Syria”

By: Rodrigo Hernández |
Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Violence against the press in Mexico, as told through Veracruz
photojournalists

Three men come out of
an old building in the neighborhood Narvarte,
a middle class neighborhood in Mexico City.They had just finished raping, beating, and killing four women, Nadia Dominique Vera Pérez, Yesenia Quiroz Alfaro, Milla
Martin, and Alejandra Negrete Virginia,
in one of
the apartments.It’s August 2015, and
according to reports from various organizations, their objective was a fifth
person also found dead in the same place: Rubén Espinosa, a young photographer
who had taken refuge in the Mexican capital in the face of threats that he
suffered.

Although authorities
speak of “clean areas of drug trafficking”, for some time the deaths by
organized crime know no boundaries within the country.The hole left by a 9mm bullet in the head of Rubén
attests this.His crime was being a
journalist in one of the most dangerous states of Mexico: Veracruz.

The riddled body of a youth on a bus in Veracruz.The battle between the Zetas and the Jalisco
New Generation Cartel had led to an increase in violence.Félix Márquez.

Veracruz: Camera Shots

An old snack bar near
the harbor is the meeting place of photographers and reporters to take a break
from the day.Worn out walls and plastic
tables are witnesses of the changing conversations among local
journalists.Some have spent decades
telling what happens in their state, but the violence makes them observe every
day more, and to count each day less.Others are youths with miserable wages, and they live awaiting a
national press or an international agency to take notice of their work.Rubén Espinosa and one of his best friends, Félix
Márquez, belonged to that group.

When they started
working as photojournalists a decade ago, Veracruz was a tourist town.There was poverty and contrasts were seen, but
the bloodletting of drug trafficking was focused at that time in northern Mexico.This was a passageway for drugs and for
thousands of migrants traveling to the United States.“When we started, we were used to shooting
accidents and brawls, but suddenly we began to photograph dismembered bodies
and shootouts.It was a very fast and
hard change,” Félix recalls while walking along the pier of the city.A few years ago, tourists and locals were
concentrated in this area at dusk.But now,
the last rays of the sun have become a warning: the streets at night long ago
ceased to belong to the people of Veracruz.

From this place, the
real cause of this nightmare that the region is living through can be
seen.A treasure becoming the reason of
so much death.The port.With it, Veracruz became a strategic area: in
the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, in the east of the country and with maritime
access for drug output from Latin America to points such as Europe or the
United States.Many containers were
loaded with cocaine, and sometimes, they came full of weapons.

Los Zetas

“We see dead.It looks like a car accident on the road
towards Jalapa.”It was a normal message
that a journalist wrote in the mobile messaging group that is shared by many
reporters.It was August 2008.Félix took his camera and came with another colleague
to the place.

There was a burning car
and corpses on the floor, but there had been no crash.Suddenly the sound of bullets began.

With their bodies on the ground, the
photographers realized that they were in the middle of a shootout between
criminal groups.It was the first time
that they had heard the sound of a firearm and they weren’t small guns.They managed to crawl to a nearby
street.There wasn’t any news or photos
of the “shootout” in any media.

Polo shirts with their
collars turned up.Skintight pants.Graffiti with the last letter of the alphabet
that is still seen on some walls of the city.The bloodiest cartel in Mexico landed in Veracruz.Its citizens did not take long to notice.

Los Zetas joined in on
the drug trade, and all kinds of abuses related to civilian activities:
disappearances, extortion, threats.Journalists like Félix began to see things they never imagined.“We suddenly became war photographers,
without ever having gone to a place like Syria.”

A member of the autodefensas walks around a roadblock in the municipality
of Tancitaro, Michoacán. Félix Márquez

Their confrontations
with other cartels soon affected the press. The state of Tamaulipas, in northern Mexico,
became the best example.For years, the big
media outlets stopped telling what was happening there.They kidnapped journalists recognized by the
most famous media outlets.They
assassinated local reporters.They threw
bombs at the headquarters of newspapers.

The volume of earnings
of Los Zetas was growing along with its bad reputation.Over the years, the need for a place to
mobilize their merchandise became urgent and Veracruz seemed to be the ideal
state.

Life changed for
everyone.Especially for reporters like
Felix.“As a journalist, one usually
seeks exclusivity.To arrive first to
places, to take a different picture.But
we stopped doing it.The rules were new,
and the kind of work we did as well.”

The figure of “spokesperson”
of cartels became a key factor of journalism throughout Mexico.Publishers and editors of local media know
what they can broadcast and what can cost them a scare.Many capos imposed red lines and editorial
lines.Fear took hold of newsrooms and
them of information. Although leaders
were killed or were captured, the rules remained the same.

But the pressure is not
only in the form of sicarios or cartel members.Federal police, the military, and governors are frequently part of this
game of pressures and constraints.“In
Veracruz, chayotero journalism (close
to the interests of politicians) has always existed,” Felix recalls.But now, power and authority have been
transformed.Extortion does not only
come from the government.At least, not
the government that they knew before.

Veracruz: The Power of the Narco

The boundaries between
organized crime and the Mexican State are increasingly blurred.Some speak of corrupt politicians and others
of drug traffickers in politics.

Neither Félix Márquez
nor his parents have known a government in Veracruz that is not chaired by the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico for seven decades
until 2000, and returned to power in 2012 in the hands of Enrique Peña Nieto.Between 2004 and 2010, Veracruz was led by Fidel Herrera.It was the period during which the rise of
criminal activities in the state deepened.Fourteen DEA protected witnesses noted the protection that Herrera
granted to members of Los Zetas and his ongoing meetings with leaders of the
cartel.Forbes magazine included him
shortly after in the list of the ten most corrupt people in the country.The Mexican government sent him to Barcelona
as a consul.

“The corruption of our politicians has not only
provoked crime, but also poverty,” Felix laments.During his years as governor, Herrera left a
debt over 11 billion pesos (around $595,315,490 USD)

Showing the deterioration
in Veracruz became a challenge for Felix.With his camera and two reporters, he arrived to the mountains of Zongolica.In this area of the center of the state, tin
roofs and dirt floors make up the small houses where the farmers live.“There, not only the face of violence is
seen, but the stories that cause violence: poor education, marginalization,
poverty.”

Asphalt roads never
arrived in this area.There’s barely any
electricity and drinking water.Let
alone any police or army.This
facilitates the work of criminal gangs.Safe houses, kidnappings, and robberies accumulated over the years
here.Ad nauseam and impunity mobilized neighbors.

“For a long time, the people
have organized.Loaded with clubs and
old guns, the decided to defend what is theirs.”During six weeks, Felix and his companions
looked for various autodefensa groups throughout the Veracruz Mountains.His work caused a huge stir.

Three members of the ‘Citizens’ Council for Public Security’ guard a
corner during a night tour about 50 kilometers from the port of Veracruz. Félix
Márquez

“We sent the
information and it was published.However, it was discredited by the state government in several press
conferences in which they said that my photos were a montage.”In an area dominated by insecurity, it was
dangerous to speak openly about the distrust of the authorities and about the
groups organizing to defend themselves.

The government’s
response was immediate.The Secretary of
Public Safety accused Felix and his companions of lying.“He said that I should be in jail.We took our precautionary measures and we
went for a few days to Mexico City in search of legal advice.”

Felix went to the
capital to seek support to allow him to continue working without risking his
life.They warned him about what he
already knew.“Mexico is the most unsafe
country for journalists in the world,” they told him bluntly at the offices of Article
19, a human rights organization that focuses on denouncing threats that the
press goes through in the country.Its
director warned Felix about the danger of continuing to show what was happening
in the state where 17 journalists have been killed since 2000.

Fear or vocation.A difficult choice, especially if we consider
that 96% of the disappearances and assassinations of journalists have a record
of carrying out coverage on issues of corruption and security relating to
officials with organized crime.

Despite everything,
Felix decided to return to Veracruz and continue to work with the greatest caution
possible.Like other photographers, he
began to become more aware of his back than the news.But faced with fear and mistrust, stories of
solidarity among peers also wove, allowing him to move forward.

Burial of Rodrigo Benitez, autodefensa member assassinated in the town of Antúnez,
Michoacán. Félix Márquez

Moisés Sánchez: You Can’t Live With Fear

In Veracruz,
journalists overcome fears through hard work.It’s the only way to forget about the risk to which they are exposed
to.Of abstracting.Felix decided to concentrate exclusively on
his photos to silence the threats he continued to receive.

“I wanted to follow up
on the project of the autodefensas and I made contact with Moisés Sánchez, a
reporter covering an area on the outskirts of the capital.He devoted himself to giving a voice to
citizens, to its neighbors.”Moisés was
a true symbol of local journalism in Mexico.His own cab served him to cover the news that was happening in his
neighborhood.Journalism of potholes in
the streets, of lights in poor condition, and unsolved crimes.Away from the major television and radio
stations but with a fundamental value for the environment, for his community.

Moisés Sánchez decided
to create a small newspaper with his income, La Unión.A humble daily newspaper that he sold down
the street accompanied by a megaphone.But
the news about insecurity and poverty that spread throughout his neighborhood
must have upset someone.

With a pain that still
remains, Felix remembers how “Moisés was kidnapped at night in front of his
family, he was taken in a truck.”His
headless body was found in a nearby town.“One more death,” according to some newspaper headlines that day.Another death full of pain in the profession
and his family.Another number to add to
a never ending list.According to the
National Statistics Institute, violence in Mexico during 2007 and 2014 caused
164,000 civilian deaths.A figure that
exceeds deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan together in those seven years.

Jorge, the son of Moisés, led demonstrations
and fought for a fair investigation.Again, it exposed the Mexican State.He demonstrated the threats against the mayor of the area (who later
escaped without a trace).He got evidence
of participation and neglect of the security forces during the kidnapping.He confirmed what his neighbors already knew:
the direct relationship between authorities and drug dealers.But last month, all he got was an absurd security
presence at his home: security cameras, police cars in his home, and a barbed
wire fence.

They are supposed to be
locking up others, not us.But that’s
how it works here.Criminals go free and
we have to be locked up,” Jorge laments.“I always asked my father: ‘If they said that they were going to kill
you, why do keep publishing?”He always said:
“You can’t live with fear.If you live
with fear, things will never change.”

But impunity continues
to prevail.Not even the assassination
of Moisés nor any other journalist has been solved.“Anyone can kill you for writing something or
for taking a picture,” Felix recalls in a gathering convened by communication professionals
in front of the Government Palace.His
friend, Rubén Espinosa, was also there.Shortly thereafter, it would be his funeral that the press and his peers
would convene.

Rubén Espinosa

Espinosa was another
young journalist with a miserable wage who was trying to make his passion,
photography, into a profession.The difficulties
in getting a well-paid position led him to work with the ruling party, the PRI.

For several months, he
made the official photos of the candidate for governor of Veracruz at that
time, Javier Duarte.He soon left work
and specialized in social movements.

In a twist to his
career, as if it were a movie script, his recognition would come thanks to a
photo that he took of his former boss.Duarte already being governor, one of the most important magazines in the
country used a photograph taken by Rubén to illustrate a tough cover.The face of the politician with a police cap
under the title: Veracruz, estado in ley (lawless state).The publication would relate to the blood trail
in which the area had become.

Photojournalist Rubén Espinosa during a protest. Félix Márquez

The photographer photographed.Rubén began to receive the same harassment that
Félix had suffered through before.Government staff followed him and took pictures.On September 20, 2011, 35 bodies were thrown
in Boca del Río, one of the upper class areas of the Veracruz capital.Most journalists didn’t dare cover the
story.At the press conference that the
state attorney general held shortly after, Espinosa couldn’t enter.“The press officer told me that I had nothing
to do there, and that I was in the way.”

Violence continued to
rise and in five years, between 2010 and 2015, there were more than 3,000 assassinations
in the state alone.Local journalists
began to make out a change in cartels operating in Veracruz with the arrival of
the new governor, Duarte.The Jalisco New
Generation Cartel spread its tentacles into major cities.Threats suffered by communication
professionals become more evident.

In the case of Rubén, the
danger was increasingly evident.In a
student protest, an official representative came over to whisper to him: “Turn
it down.Stop taking photos or you’ll
end up like Regina,” referring to anther assassinated journalist.

As Felix had done
months earlier, Rubén decided to leave for the capital in search of
safety.The Federal District is supposed
to be one of the safest places in Mexico, where, according to most politicians,
drug trafficking hasn’t arrived.

It was the morning of
July 31.Rubén was at home with some
friends who had come to drink the night before.The building they were in had a security camera.On the streets, there were six others.As in similar cases in Mexico, almost all
recordings were damaged.

Three men entered the
house.They raped, tortured, and
assassinated five people who were in the house.It was a new step in violence against the press in Mexico.Mexico City would cease to be the refuge for
journalists who feel threatened.

We Didn’t Study Journalism to Cover a Colleague’s Funeral

Burial of photojournalist Moisés Sánchez. Félix Márquez

The assassination of Rubén
mobilized his friends and colleagues.For Félix Márquez, it was a blow from which he hasn’t recovered yet.“We don’t study the career of journalism and
communication to be covering the funerals of our colleagues.”

Not only the pain; the
threat also spread to journalists who wanted to freely tell what was happening
in Veracruz.“Many people work to live
and in Veracruz, it seems that we are working to die in journalism,” Félix says.A profession that requires you to make bags
to an increasingly distant place.

To put away the camera
or use it elsewhere.The new dilemma for
Félix.The death of his friend was the
trigger to decide to leave Mexico.Without
help from any public institution, but with the support of his colleagues, he
settled in another country.

Violence ends in Mexico
with journalists, with activists, with anyone raising their voice and telling
what is happening.Behind the labels of “the
most dangerous country to report in” or of “narco-state”, thousands of suppressed
stories are hidden.Stories that portray
a place where killing is cheaper than reporting.

12 comments:

This proves the ignorance of the mexican people. You are at fucken war stupid idiots! Felipe calderon declared WAR on narcos! With both money and guns being supplied from the good old USA, guns are supplied directly from us gov agencies such as ATF and money from your average american drug abusers.

Well, there are expert foreigners that know how to capitalize and make profit from that "mexican ignorance" they promote by keeping the mexican satrapy in place with "friendly help"...Of course that help comes from the US and other criminal associates, from canada and the "uropas"...enjoy the bounty.

10:55 PM"you are a racist fucking guero pendejo"Says the prick who who proceeds to be racist over a comment that has no race issue at all?Fuckin nation of whiners and bigots who get the race and sorry card pulled out all the time.Racism is racism whether its coming from white black or brown.

5:40 "..." says the whinny prick that always jumps to the defense of his "brethren"...who is not a fucking nation of "whiners", no siree, no, it is always "the other side, Mr bossum' massah...-I can't believe your desperation to belong to the "good ones"

@5:40Whiners and bigots?Fucking KKK,Donald Trump fan. I ain't pulling no race card you bitch just read your coments and that other guero and anyone can see you ain't like mexicans but guess what? You can't stop us :)From Chiraq

t's totally a catch 22 situation.If you report on it you get killed and if you don't crime continues without check.What's the solution?Everybody report where there would be too many to take out?I don't know.Maybe a big uprising and protest.If things continue well every state is getting infiltrated already what happens when it gets worse?You might say,die now or die later.Most people would choose to die later rather than fight.I know the Mexicans are a peaceful people that don't like conflict therefor it goes on and on and on [the crime] with no end in sight.

Don't be a tourist in mexico and get confused with one of those rapists, unless you are a very beautiful female of any age and any race from anywhere, then you are welcome by me and all the mexican young men...or at least have some money!!!